LOCATION/TYPE

NEWS HOME

[ exact phrase in "" • results by date ]

[ Google-powered • results by relevance ]


Archive
RSS

Add NWW headlines to your site (click here)

Get weekly updates

WHAT TO DO
when your community is targeted

RSS

RSS feeds and more

Keep Wind Watch online and independent!

Donate via Paypal

Donate via Stripe

Selected Documents

All Documents

Research Links

Alerts

Press Releases

FAQs

Campaign Material

Photos & Graphics

Videos

Allied Groups

Wind Watch is a registered educational charity, founded in 2005.

News Watch Home

O’Malley’s wind energy plan could become a study 

Credit:  Annie Linskey, Maryland Politics, weblogs.baltimoresun.com 23 March 2011 ~~

The chairman of the Senate Finance Committee offered up the classic Annapolis solution to the politically tricky off-shore wind legislation that Gov. Martin O’Malley is pushing this year: Transform it into a study.

Sen. Thomas M. Middleton said Monday that the proposal to build a wind farm off Ocean City is still encountering stiff resistance in his committee, despite a flurry of one-on-one meetings with the governor and key Senate and House members.

“Some people believe there should be a study,” said Middleton, who said he hopes that issues can be resolved. But time is running out: The general assembly session ends in less than three weeks.

To build momentum for the bill, O’Malley is set to hold a news conference at City Dock in Annapolis today. He’ll stress the the 2,000 jobs he believes it would generate.

Joe Bryce, O’Malley’s top lobbyist, said Tuesday that Maryland is “in a race” with other states that are angling to host off-shore farms and therefore can ill afford to delay action for a year.

The bill is one of several key pieces of the governor’s legislative agenda to face tough scrutiny from lawmakers. O’Malley’s plan to limit septic systems at new developments has been stopped up in the House and a proposal to create a $100 million investment capital fund hasn’t reached the floor of either chamber.

The wind legislation would direct the state’s utilities to enter 25-year contracts with energy firms to build a wind farm in the Atlantic Ocean. The cost could exceed $1 billion and would be borne by the state’s ratepayers.

The governor has stressed that the charge to ratepayers would be negligible: The administration estimates it would be $1.44 a month, but other estimates are higher.

But Middleton said the bulk of the opposition is centered on the costs to ratepayers. After facing tough elections and angry votes last November, many senators and delegates are particularly sensitive to pocketbook issues.

House Speaker Micheal E. Busch did not sound as rushed. “It is a distance run, not a sprint,” he said. Complicated legislation, like the wind bill, can benefit from “thorough dissection,” he said.

“Sometimes it takes more than one session,” Busch said.

Source:  Annie Linskey, Maryland Politics, weblogs.baltimoresun.com 23 March 2011

This article is the work of the source indicated. Any opinions expressed in it are not necessarily those of National Wind Watch.

The copyright of this article resides with the author or publisher indicated. As part of its noncommercial educational effort to present the environmental, social, scientific, and economic issues of large-scale wind power development to a global audience seeking such information, National Wind Watch endeavors to observe “fair use” as provided for in section 107 of U.S. Copyright Law and similar “fair dealing” provisions of the copyright laws of other nations. Send requests to excerpt, general inquiries, and comments via e-mail.

Wind Watch relies entirely
on User Funding
   Donate via Paypal
(via Paypal)
Donate via Stripe
(via Stripe)

Share:

e-mail X FB LI TG TG Share


News Watch Home

Get the Facts
CONTACT DONATE PRIVACY ABOUT SEARCH
© National Wind Watch, Inc.
Use of copyrighted material adheres to Fair Use.
"Wind Watch" is a registered trademark.

 Follow:

Wind Watch on X Wind Watch on Facebook

Wind Watch on Linked In Wind Watch on Mastodon